Scientists have discovered a new state of matter, called 'Jahn-Teller metals'

5/15/2015

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An international group of researchers has announced the finding
of a new state of matter in a material that seems to be an insulator,
superconductor, metal and magnet all rolled into one, saying that it could lead
to the improvement of more operative high-temperature superconductors. So, why
is this so exciting? Well, if these characteristics are confirmed, this new
state of matter will let researchers to better understand why some things have
the potential to reach superconductivity at a relativity high critical
temperature (Tc) - "high" as in −135 °C as contrasting to −243.2 °C. Since
superconductivity permits a material to conduct electricity without resistance,
which obviously means no heat, sound, or any other kind of energy release, attaining
this would definitely revolutionize how we use and generate energy, but it’s
only possible if we can achieve it at so-called high temperatures. As Michael Byrne describes at Motherboard, when we start to talk about states of matter,
it’s not just only solids, liquids, gases, and perhaps plasmas that we have to
think about. We also have to study the more incomprehensible states that don’t take
place in nature, but are rather produced in the lab, for example Bose–Einstein
condensate, degenerate matter, supersolids and superfluids, and quark-gluon
plasma.

By adding rubidium into carbon-60 molecules - generally known
as 'buckyballs' - a group of scientists led by chemist Kosmas Prassides from
Tokohu University in Japan was able to alter the distance between them, which formed
a new crystalline structure. When put through a series of tests, this structure
showed a mixture of insulating, superconducting, metallic, and magnetic phases,
containing a brand new one, which the scientists have named 'Jahn-Teller
metals'. Termed after the Jahn-Teller effect, which is used in chemistry to
describe how at low pressures, the geometric prearrangement of molecules and
ions in an electronic state can become partial, this new state of matter lets researchers
to alter an insulator - which can’t conduct electricity - into a conductor by only
applying pressure.

There’s a lot of lab-work to be done before this finding will actually
mean anything for applied energy production in the real world, but that’s
science for you. And it’s got people thrilled already, as chemist Elisabeth
Nicol from the University of Guelph told Hamish Johnston at PhysicsWorld:
"Understanding the mechanisms at play and how they can be manipulated to
change the Tc surely will inspire the development of new [superconducting]
materials".

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